


The Stars In The Night Sky Looked Down

by Merixcil



Series: Advent Fics 2018 [14]
Category: Watchmen (Comic), Watchmen - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, M/M, rorschach's horrible grasp of his own emotions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:54:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25287895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merixcil/pseuds/Merixcil
Summary: Dan and Rorschach take a breather from their Christmas Eve patrol
Relationships: Dan Dreiberg & Rorschach, Dan Dreiberg/Rorschach
Series: Advent Fics 2018 [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1824643
Kudos: 4





	The Stars In The Night Sky Looked Down

Even on clear nights, the light pollution in New York is typically so bad that you can’t see anything more exciting than the moon overhead. Dan still has the telescope his grandfather got him for his twelfth birthday tucked up in the attic, probably the most expensive gift anyone's ever bought him, but he barely uses it. He’s lived too much of his life without stars, much as he loves the idea of combing the heavens for what’s left of them, he lacks the muscle memory to do it properly. 

Nite Owl and Rorschach duck into Central Park at the tail end of a particularly gruelling patrol. Christmas Eve and everyone without a place to be appears to be drinking away their sorrows and getting just as violent as they please to celebrate the season. Breaking up bar fights isn’t exactly what Dan got into the vigilante business for, but they sure have received some very grateful handshakes from overworked bar tenders. 

Rorschach steers them both into a secluded patch of trees, along paths that Dan would never have spotted in the dark. Not for the first time, Dan has to wonder where his partner goes once they’ve finished their shared responsibility as the scourge of New York City's criminal underbelly. If he has an apartment, or a wife, or a friend. Or if he hides in Central Park in the homeless communes. 

“Hey, buddy. Slow down a spell, would you?” Dan huffs. He’s not picked up any serious injuries but a light sprain of his ankle makes matching Rorschach’s military pace uncomfortable at best. He puts up with it on the street but it’s not necessary here. They’re not after anyone, they’re not trying to outrun the dawn. They just needed a breather, and the park was closer than Dan’s basement. 

Rorschach grunts. “Sloppy, Nite Owl.”

“Twisted ankle, Rorschach.” Dan counters. 

“Learn to push through the pain.”

“Hey, I push through plenty of pain. Remember that time with the Lude Heads over in the Bronx?”

A slight twitch of Rorschach’s hatted head, barely visible in the residual light from the city, But Dan grins to himself about it anyway. That had been a tough night. he had come away with a broken wrist and a six inch gash down the side of one thigh, and he had still walked all the way home without so much as wincing over the pain. 

“Impressive, that night.” Rorschach concedes. “Must learn to maintain stamina.”

They come to a halt in the middle of the copse, a small clearing barely big enough for the two of them to sit. Side by side, pressed up against the trunk of a deciduous tree that no longer provides any cover. Which would be a problem, if it were raining. 

“Woah.” Dan blinks, glimpsing the little spots of light picked out in the deep blue sky. Before he can think twice, he’s reaching for his goggles to shift them aside and get a better look. 

“Hn!” Rorschach groans in alarm, his hand coming up to stop Dan, pressing heavy on his wrist. “Public spaces, Nite Owl.”

Dan laughs. “Relax, buddy. It’s not like anyone’s around to see.” But the hand on his wrist stays, insistent, and the black spots on Rorschach’s mask dance in patterns Dan has never seen before. 

So the goggles stay. 

“Look at the stars, though.” Dan whispers, leaning into Rorschach ever so slightly and pretending, for both their sakes, that he doesn’t hear the way his breath hitches.”

Rorschach’s head tips skyward and the hat stays firmly in place. “Same stars as always.”

Dan doesn’t quite believe him, but half an hour later there is still a gloved hand wrapped around his wrist, preventing him from breaking the spell. Dan has no interest in the trappings of Christmas, but if that’s the present Rorschach wants to give him, he’ll take it. 

**Author's Note:**

> This work was originally posted as part of a multi chaptered 'advent fics' fic that I'm trying to split up. If you think you've read it before, you probably have
> 
> Comments on the previous posting of this fic (just ask if you want me to remove yours) include:
> 
> >dompo: Ror must have glue lining the inside of his hat  
> >>Merixcil: Knowing him it's an encrusted layer of dirt that cannot physically be removed without the aid of a pickaxe


End file.
